


What Might Have Been

by watcherofworlds



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Feels, Occasional Agnst, headcanons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-07-26 23:43:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7594942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcherofworlds/pseuds/watcherofworlds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU in which Howard Stark finds Steve in the Arctic and brings him home in time for his date with Peggy and that explores the life they had together as a result of that single small change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise-another AU! I decided to write this one because I've always been curious about how Steve and Peggy's lives would have worked out if they'd actually been together and how the MCU would have been changed if they had been. As usual, comments are welcome and greatly appreciated. Let me know what you guys think!

"No," Howard said vehemently. "Absolutely not."

" _Come on_ Howard," Steve protested. "Why not?"

"You need to be kept under observation," Howard replied. "We need to be sure you aren't suffering from any adverse effects of being frozen."

"Look at me Howard," Steve said, gesturing to himself. "I'm fine."

"You don't know that," Howard argued. "Just because you _feel_  fine doesn't mean you _are_ fine."

Howard..." Steve said.

"I know you're anxious to see Peggy," Howard went on, ignoring him, "but I need to be absolutely certain that you're okay."

" _Howard_ -"

"I'll let her know what's going on. I'm sure she can forgive you for missing your date, under the circumstances."

"Howard!" Steve snapped. Howard stopped talking and stared at him.

"I pride myself on being a man who keeps his promises," he went on, doing his best to maintain a polite tone, "and there's no way in hell I'm going to break this one. Please. Let me go. I'll come back if I can. Please." Howard sighed. He slumped, defeated.

"All right," he said, "but only because I've hated seeing Peggy in so much pain." Steve brightened. The vaguely irritated expression vanished from his face.

"Thanks Howard," he said. "I owe you one."

"Yeah, yeah," Howard said dismissively, brushing off his thanks. "You'd better get going. You don't want to be late." Steve grinned. He paused just long enough to comb his hair back with his fingers before he was out the door and gone. It was only after he'd left that Howard realized that when he'd told him he would come back if he could he'd specifically avoided using the words "I promise".

"Sneaky bastard," Howard grumbled, and busied himself with finding something to do in the increasingly likely event that Steve never returned.


	2. The Dance

_I'd hate to step on your  toes._

The words echoed mockingly in Peggy's mind as she sat at the bar at the Stork Club on a Saturday, a week since she'd lost Steve. The bitter taste of her drink summed up her grief and guilt and self-anger perfectly. She turned around glanced at the clock. It was five minutes to eight.

 _I don't know why I bother checking,_ she thought, turning back to the bar with a self-deprecating snort. _It isn't like he's going to-_  Her train of thought was interrupted by a commotion near the door. She turned around in her seat again and suddenly felt as though the world had been yanked out from under her. Steve was by the door, wading through the excited, milling crowd. He was still wearing his uniform, his shield on his back, which explained the commotion. Peggy didn't think the other patrons of the Stork Club would have recognized him otherwise.

Steve caught sight of her and smiled that utterly disarming smile of his, the one that made her chest hurt. He made his way over to the bar and stood there, smiling down at her.

"Steve, I..." Peggy began, then trailed off, struggling to articulate her feelings. "I thought you were dead," she finished simply.

"So did I, until Howard and his team found me," Steve replied, his tone deceptively casual. He gestured to the empty bar stool beside her and asked "May I sit?" She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Steve sat down next to her, leaning toward her on the bar stool, his feet planted flat on the floor.

"How...h-h-how did you... how did you..." Peggy stammered, irritated that she seemed to have lost the ability to speak coherently.

"How did I survive?" Steve prompted gently. Peggy nodded, feeling shaken.

"I'm not really sure myself, to be honest," Steve went on. "Everything after the crash is sort of...hazy. I remember thinking that I was going to die, but that was fine because it meant I would get to see my mom and Bucky again. After that I think I must have passed out or fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew I was in one of Howard's research facilities, with Howard standing over me looking concerned. He was so concerned, in fact, that I almost missed this. He kept insisting that I had to be kept under observation, and I had to fight with him to get him to let me leave."

"Well, you're here now, and that's what's important," Peggy said quietly. Steve nodded, though he didn't look entirely reassured. Behind them, the band started a new song. Steve twisted around in his seat for a moment, then turned back toward her.

"You know, I still don't know how to dance," he said, a self-deprecating smile spreading across his face. Peggy felt a brief but intense stab of pain. Those words and that smile reminded her of things she'd rather not think about.

"I'll show you how," she whispered. "Come on." She took his hand and led him onto the dance floor, the crowd parting to make way for them. She took a deep, shaky breath and began to lead him slowly and carefully lead him through the steps of a waltz, not caring that the music was entirely wrong for waltzing. He picked it up quickly, and before long he was dancing like he'd been doing it for years.

"Are you still worried about stepping on my toes?" she asked. 

"Not so much anymore," he replied with a grin, and twirled her in a single fluid, graceful motion.

"You picked this up rather quickly," she remarked when he pulled her close to him again. 

"Yeah, well, the super soldier serum kind of gives me an unfair advantage," he said, and shrugged non committedly. 

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily say unfair," she muttered, then lapsed into silence. Neither of them spoke for a long time. They didn't feel the need to, and it seemed as if words would ruin the moment. Peggy rested her head against Steve's chest, the steady, thumping rhythm of his heartbeat tangible proof that this was really happening, that it wasn't just some crazy dream.

"You okay Peg?" Steve asked quietly. They weren't really dancing anymore, just swaying in time to the music.

"I'm fine," Peggy replied, lifting her head from his chest. "I'm just...glad you're here." "Glad" didn't even begin to sum up her feelings, but it was as close as she could get.

"Well, I'm glad I'm here with you," Steve said, his smile as warm as Peggy had ever seen it. She closed her eyes to preserve that smile in her memory, so that she would have it always to be her light in the darkness, her warmth in the cold.

She lost track of the hours that went by after that. She was only aware of the passing of time by the by the gradual emptying of the dance floor.  After a while, she noticed that the music had stopped and she looked around, bewildered. It was only then that she noticed that the club was empty except for her, Steve, the bartender, and the members of the band, who were packing up their instruments.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"They're closing up in a few minutes," the band leader replied as he and the rest of his band filed past her toward the exit. "It's almost midnight."

"Come on Peg," Steve said. "I'll walk you home." On any other occasion Peggy would have refused and insisted that she was perfectly capable of walking home by herself, but the truth was that she wanted this night to last as long as possible, so she simply nodded and allowed Steve to lead her out of the club, pausing to pay for her drink on her way out the door.

Except for those occasions when it was necessary to point him in the right direction, she and Steve hardly spoke on the way to her apartment, which was fine with her. She was happy just to enjoy his company in silence. They arrived at her apartment building far too soon for her liking- the more time she spent with Steve the less she wanted that time to end.

Steve put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as they entered the building, and she smiled, grateful all over again for his presence at her side. They reached her apartment and she sighed, pulling away from Steve reluctantly.

"I would invite you inside, but-" she began.

"It's getting late?" Steve offered with a smile, leaning against the wall next to her door.

"Well, that and I'm afraid my roommate will bombard you with so many questions that you won't be able to get a word in edgewise," Peggy replied. "I'm sure she's stayed awake just so she can interrogate me about tonight the moment I step foot inside."

"Well, I'd hate to keep you from _that_ ," Steve said, a wry smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He leaned down toward her, offering his cheek for a goodnight kiss. Peggy stretched up on her tiptoes to oblige him, but he turned his head at the last second and their lips met. She froze in shock for a second, then melted into the kiss, her elbows braced on his shoulders, her fingers curling in his hair. Steve made a sound halfway between a growl and a moan low in his throat and wrapped his arms around her, trapping her against him. They fell back against the door, rattling it in its frame and elicting a startled cry from within.

 _So I was right_ , Peggy noted in the part of her mind that wasn't completely caught up in the moment. _She is awake._ An instant later the thought was chased away and she lost herself in Steve, in the solid realness of him, in his scent, clean and fresh like the air after a rainstorm, in the feeling of his lips on hers.

When they finally broke apart they were both breathing hard, and Steve's face was flushed as if with exertion. Peggy was sure hers looked much the same.

"That was a cheap trick Rogers," she said breathlessly, "but I approve.

"I'm glad," Steve replied, just as breathless. The corners of his mouth quirked upward in a smirk. "I'd hate to think I'd disappointed you."

"You could never disappoint me," Peggy said sincerely.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Steve muttered darkly in response, but before Peggy could question him about it he kissed her one last time, a promise just as much as it was a goodbye, and disappeared down the hall.


End file.
